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24 August 2003

PRESS RELEASE - on behalf of The Prisoners’ Advice Service – Unit 210 Hatton Square, 16 Baldwins Gdns, London EC1N 7RJ


Prison Service Policy on Category A Prisoner Reports “Kafkaesque” says Senior Judge.


Embargoed Until Monday 1st September


A High Court ruling in the case of R (on the application of Lord) v SSHD has signalled that major change is necessary in the current procedures adopted by the Prison Service to determine whether Category A prisoners should remain in high security conditions. Category A prisoners, the highest security category, are defined as those “whose escape would be highly dangerous to the public or the police or the security of the State…”


Category A prisoners have their status reviewed annually. Individual reports are prepared by various Prison Service staff members involved with the prisoner. However, prisoners are not allowed to see those reports. Instead they are presented with a summary, known as a ‘gist’, and are then invited to submit written representations on the contents of that gist.


Alan Lord was represented by the Prisoners’ Advice Service, a charity which provides legal advice and representation to prisoners. Mr Lord, a Category A prisoner serving a life sentence, argued that the gist system prevented effective representations due to the Prison Service’s use of formulaic and standardised language. Munby J expressed “extreme disquiet” when shown evidence by the lawyers and described the gist in Lord’s case as “defective.”


Mr Lord also challenged the refusal of the Prison Service to comply with his Data Protection Act request for copies of the individual reports prepared for his Category A review.


The Prison Service argued that their blanket policy of non-disclosure of Category A reports was justified in the interests of the prevention and detection of crime and the apprehension and prosecution of offenders. The policy was also intended to protect the privacy of report writers. Munby J disagreed with this argument and held that a more selective and targeted approach of non-disclosure should be adopted based on the particular circumstances of the case. He also considered that this approach would be sufficient to protect report writers. He stressed that their rights had to be balanced against the rights of prisoners, recognising that in every case the prisoner’s liberty would be at stake.


Finding in favour of Lord, Munby J focused his attention on the apparent failure of the current system to comply with the basic common law principles of fairness, resulting in the “shabby and unfair treatment” of Category A prisoners. Commenting on one aspect of the argument put forward by the Prison Service the judge said “I really do begin to wonder whether we are in the real world or in the world of Franz Kafka.” He added, “It is not just the judiciary or the public at large who need to have confidence in the system. Prisoners also – prisoners in particular – need to have confidence in the system.”


The case comes just a year after the Court of Appeal had also criticised the fairness of the review procedures adopted for another category A prisoner, Mathew Williams.


Nancy Collins, Senior Solicitor at The Prisoners’ Advice Service says: “This judgment has far reaching implications. It has revealed that the system is fundamentally flawed and is likely to have prevented the progress and rehabilitation of a large number of prisoners, including many fixed term prisoners, who have been held in Category A conditions, often for many years. ” Nancy Collins can be contacted on 07968 166 118.



Lawyers for the Claimant:

Nicki Rensten – Caseworker, The Prisoners’ Advice Service.

Phillippa Kauffman – Barrister, Doughty St, Chambers.


1/9/2003


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